Cigarette lighter



Sept. 30, 1952 w. F. SCHILLING CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Feb. 7, 1950 Walter F Schilling INVENTOR.

. 9 BY al i im Patented Sept. 30, 1952 .aamasss. o cn ne'r'ru LIGHTER WaltenF. Schilling, Los. :Angeles, -.Ca lif.

Application. February '7 1 Thisiinventioncomprises novel and useful im provements in cigarette lighters, and" more particularly' pertains 1 to cigarette lighters" for use" in veh-i'cles-and'the like.

' An important object otthis invention is to provide-a cigarette lighter which will ignite a cigarette without necessitating the smoker to re- :A iurther. ..feature..of. .this..invention .resides in the provision for a re-entrant sleeve in.the-.casing, which sleeve guides the cigarette and also serves to conduct the h'eatawaT'fromthat portioniof the cigarette whichit is not desired to ignite. I v

These, together with various 'ancillary objects and features are attained by this-device, a preferred embodiment of which is'illustratedybyway 'ofexample only, in theaccompanying drawings, wherein? Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of thebigarette lighter-shown attached to thefidashboard portion of a vehicle;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the longitudinal axis of the lighter; and

Figure 3 is a lighter.

Referring now more specifically to the accornpanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, it will be readily seen that there is provided a cigarette lighter indicated generally by the numeral II) which may conveniently be attached to the dashboard l2 of a vehicle or the like.

The cigarette lighter l consists generally or a casing it, which may conveniently be cylindrically shaped, having an upper wall l8 and a lower wall 20. In order to permit the heating elements to be readily repaired, cleaned or re laced, the

horizontal sectional View of the 1950, Serial No. 142,811

a6.- filaims: (Cl. 219-32) lowerwallispreferably" detachably'securedi to the casing [6, as by providingscrew' threads .;on the flange 22 which' isisecured'to7thelower wall. I The upper wall laisattached to the casing win any desired manner 'as by the downwardly dependin rim 24 which-'frictionally embraces'the casing.

A re-entrant sleeve "26 preferably having" a flare'd'porti'on 28 is secured'to the upper wall lB andis proportioned as to loosely"receive-'a-cigarette 30 positioned therein. Positioned below the inner end of'the sleeve 26, in vertically spaced relation thereto, is a baffle 32 havinga b'ore' '34 therein, which bore, for reasons which will-"later become apparent, is axiallyaligned with the sleeve. Thebaiiie, whichis preferably of'a'heat' resistant insulatingmaterial, such as mica, or-"the like, is supported by 'the annular" groove 35 in the jca'sing I B, and furthersupportedby 'the{heat resistant insulating lining 38 which" is. attached tothe casing; Ventilating'apertures ill and; are providedrm' the "casing, t6; respectively',,aboye and belowthe -baiiie .3 Zto. permit. air to, circulate withinthe casing. Positioned below the, bore 3.4. .inlthe'haifile532, and axially aligned therewith, is theheatingiele ment upon. whichithe cigarette. 30is. supported. This. heating. element,preferablyconsisis of inner and outer resistance. coils 44 'and.3B,.res,pectively-,

WhiCh'icOilS may beformed 0 1.13), single piecelof wire or otherwise connected together,.as bythe connecting .bar 48 locatedat their .upperend. One of the other terminals-49=of the col-1,. such as that of the inner .coil, isconnected bYthGflDIlr 1 ductinglbracket .50...to the casing it, whichcasing is..grounded..as ..by conductor 52. The terminal of the outer coil 53 is connected by means of a switch 54 and conductor 56 to the anode of a battery or other source of power.

The switch 54 may consist of an electrically insulating, and preferably heat resistant block 58 which is secured as by a fastener 60 to the bracket 50. Reciprocably mounted in a bore 60 in the block, and extending through vertically aligned apertures 62 and B4 in the baiile and upper wall, respectively, is a plunger 66. This plunger is yieldingly urged to its upper position by the compression spring 68 which engages the detents 10 on the plunger. A handle 12 is secured on the upper end of the handle to facilitate depressing the plunger.

Slidably engaging the plunger is the contact point 14 which is connected as by the contact screw 16 to the conductor 56. A second contact point 18 having a detent therein selectively the terminal of the outer coil 53 as by a con ventional .contact screw. The contact 78 is preferably formed of an invar rod or the like which will expand suificiently to release the plunger 86 upon reaching a certain predetermined temperature. Obviously, other switches may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In operation, a cigarette 3.0 is positioned in the sleeve 26 so as to rest upon the inner heating coil 44, and the plunger 65 is depressed. The coils will then be heated by the current flowing therethrough, the inner coil raising the temperature of the cigarette to substantially the kindling temperature of the tobacco, which will cause the tip to be ignited. The air adjacent the inner and outer coils will be heated thereby and will thus cause convection currents, which, due to the construction of the device, will flow through the bore 34 about the tip of the cigarette, the heated air transforming the glowing tipintov a live coal which is capable of supporting combustion of the remainder of the cigarette, sufiicient air being furnished through apertures 42, the heated and burned gases passing through apertures 40. As is apparent from a consideration of Figure 2, the sleeve 26 envelopes all except the tip of the cigarette so that only the tip willburn, the sleeve being of a heat conducting material transferring the heat away from the remainder of the cigarette.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood, and further discussion is believed unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawing, it is not desired to limit the invention to that shown and described, butall suitable modifications may be resorted to falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, as new is:

l. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing having ventilating means therein, a reentrant sleeve in the upper wall of said casing, a .bafiie permanently attached to said casing and disposed below the inner end of said sleeve in vertical spaced relation thereto, a bore in said bafiie axially aligned with said sleeve, a heating sleeve element positioned below said baiile and axially aligned with said bore for heatingthe tip of a cigarette resting thereon, an elongated heating what is claimed 7 extending axially into 4 coil mounted co-axially of and about said heating element and located below the bailie for heating the adjacent air to cause convection currents for farming the heated tip of the cigarette, means electrically connected to said heating element and said heating coil for energizing said heating element and said heating coil.

2. The combination of claim 1 including a switch in said energizing means, time delay means for opening said switch.

3. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing having upper and lower walls, a reentrant sleeve depending from the upper wall of said casing and a the casing, a baffle supported .by the casing in spaced parallel relationship to said upper and lower walls, said baflle having a central opening and said casing having upper and lower series of circumferentially spaced ventilating openings located, respectively, above and below the baffle, ,a vertical substantially cylindrical heating coil supported in the casing below the bafile and in alignment with said central opening and said sleeve, a second vertical substantially cylindrical heating coil supported beneath the baffle and disposed coaxial of and about the first named heating coil, and means operatively connecting said coils to a source of current.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said means includes a switch mounted in the casing below the .baflle and a spring urged plunger slidably carried by the upper wall and baflie for selec-- tively making and breaking the switch. l

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said heating coils include upper coplanar interconnected ends.

6. The combination of claim 3 wherein said casing includes a continuous channel whose interior communicates with the interior. of said casing, said baffle including a peripheral edge seated in said channel.

WALTER F. scrnLLmG;

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

